Over 50 children at a Japanese kindergarten sing and wiggle their hips, while making soap foam to clean their hands. They’re celebrating the United Nations' World Hand-Washing Day on Thursday, October 15. The dance routine is meant to keep bugs away and prevent swine flu.

A United Nations-led program in Japan choreographed the dance routines to teach kids the proper way to wash their hands.

[Haruka Mimi, Kindergarten Student]:
"It was really fun!"

Many children were already aware of the H1N1 virus or the swine flu.

[Moemi Tenma, Kindergarten Student]:
"I've been washing hands to protect myself from the flu!"

Others simply enjoy the dance, saying they’ll do it everyday.

[Hidekazu Otsuka, Kindergarten Student]:
"I'll never forget to wash my hands from now on!"

The foamy dance routines were designed to cover all hand parts, including the palms, fingers, nails and wrists. It aims to make young children more aware of the details.

[Ayako Uragami, Japan Committee UNICEF]:
"In general, we need at least 20 seconds to wash our hands thoroughly, which sounds like a long time for little children. We came up with this universal hand-washing dance so that children can have fun and be motivated to wash their hands instead of thinking it's boring and tiresome."

This class is fun, but H1N1 is actually quite serious, with the World Health Organization predicting the pandemic could potentially affect 2 billion people globally.

In Japan, kindergartens in five cities joined in the soapy dance routines. Various activities have been held across more than 80 countries for the UN World Hand-Washing Day.